Why the Second Debate Matters More

If you only read one thing: On Sunday night, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will face off once again, and the stakes for Trump couldn’t be higher after his disappointing showing last week. Another weak performance could send Trump’s campaign into a tailspin and increase his odds of a loss by the day. Bipartisan projections show roughly 40 percent of voters will cast their ballots before Nov. 8, and already millions can be filled out, meaning even a strong showing in the final debate could be fleeting. Trump’s attempt at a preparatory town hall Thursday night was more of a “what not to do,” than a sign of an improving candidate. He attacked a GOP Senator, the press, and the Electoral College map, and delivered a number of falsehoods—and that was with a hand-selected moderator and an invite-only crowd of friendlies.

The second debate is a far harder proposition for both candidates. Instead of just a single moderator, there are two. And half of the questions will be offered by the invited audience of unaligned voters. The town hall format will test both candidates’ abilities to empathize with questioners—something they both have struggled with on the campaign trail. In the first debate, Clinton gave Trump a pass on the gaps in his policy agenda, but that is likely to change Sunday night, and once again she is plotting to get inside Trump’s head and set traps for him to alienate more voters. Trump had promised to be more aggressive, though aides now say he’s focusing on preparation on the issues more than “zingers.”

We’ll have complete coverage of Sunday’s debate from Washington University in St. Louis on TIME.com

A U.S. Senate candidate dabbed. Colbert trolls Trump with praise for Mike Pence. And Trump is tearing apart the NFL.

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“They were saying this is practice for Sunday. This isn’t practice; this has nothing to do with Sunday. We’re just here because we just wanted to be here.” — Donald Trump at a town hall his aides billed as a tune-up for Sunday’s debate

“Hey, that’s his problem. He was not for me.” — Donald Trump on Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk, a Republican likely to lose in November